How Big is an Olympic Swimming Pool?

Size does matter when it comes to pools earning the official title of "Olympic Size." Records are made to be broken, but it must be in a pool that conforms to standards set by the Fédération Internationale de Natation, the international governing board for swimming and other water sports.

  1. Length

    • Olympic size swimming pools are 50 meters long, or 164 feet and 1/2 inch.

    Width

    • The pool is 25 meters wide (82 feet) and is divided into eight lanes, with a minimum width of 2.5 meters (8 feet 2 ½ inches) from the center of the lane lines on either side. There are two open water lanes outside of lanes 1 and 8.

    Depth

    • The depth must be at least 2 meters, or 6 feet 7 inches, throughout the pool. The Water Cube, the site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics swimming events, is 10 feet deep throughout the course of the pool and considered to be ideal for fast swims.

    Volume

    • Depending on the depth, the pool will hold 660,000 gallons (2,500,000 liters), or 88,000 cubic feet (2,500 cubic meters) of water.

    Fun Fact

    • Temperature is also regulated in official racing pools. The water temperature must be maintained between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius, or 77 to 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit.